Here's the general question. I currently own two fountain pens. They are "low end", but they are still fountain pens. I've also been considering purchasing a pocket watch.

I wouldn't necessarily use these accessories regularly, but I'm curious what sort of "message" they communicate to others. In other words, if someone sees me writing with my fountain pen, would they have a different impression of me than if I wrote with my ball point pen that I bought from someone who makes pens, or if I wrote with, say, my regular Bic pen?

I own a couple of pocket watches. First off most people think I have a wallet on a chain. One I show them it is a pocket watch they are like wow that is great like I just showed them it was my bottle cap collection or some other eccentric thing.

I think it says you like to write, and enjoy collecting vintage things. You find value in past things, even though you might use ball-point pens in this century, as they are less messy and quite handy on the fly.

Oh, I also would LOVE to know sometimes what other people think of me because of the stuff I carry with me (I tend to believe it is: "What is she training for?", because I always carry A LOT of heavy books while trying to be REALLY fast).

However, I believe, we should reframe the question "which impression do we make" a little, employing some really interesting stuff . I'm sure you know scientific approaches as cybernetics, which advocate a model called "the black box", meaning that you only know input and output of a system, and not what is going on inside. This model has also been applied to communication, thus (oversimplified here) making people's minds "black boxes". So, generally speaking, not everyone will have the same notion about you using a fountain pen. Some might not even realise you are using one. But you can't know. Therefore I think it is a good idea if we do not ask "Which impression do I make?" but "Which reactions do I get?". Pay attention to the output, people's behaviour. Do you notice any changes in the way they interact with you (maybe applying the great lessons in body language we are getting here)? (And don't forget that you are a black box, too - factor in that you also have preconceived notions about others that will influence how you judge their reaction )

So the bad news is: No one universal answer and no access to impression others have of us. But the good news is: loads of individual cases to explore and plenty of opportunity to study body language

The impression people have of you will depend on so many factors, that I believe the pivotal question is: Does the fountain pen align with the overall impression they have of you? Therefore, I believe that if you just use it to make a certain impression, people will sense something "odd" about it. But if you simply feel like using a fountain pen and it expresses who you are, it might seem totally sophisticated and suit you perfectly. I'd say, just be authentic in your choices. To me, a fountain pen can look really awesome (professional, interesting, aesthetic,...) when used by person A and totally insincere (incongruent, boring, ...) when used by person B - it depends on them. Anyway, best of luck for your pen experiment!

I once went to a doctor and he wrote the prescription with a super-fancy fountain pen.To be honest, the first thing that I thought was that he was a snob. (That could have been caused also because of the extravagant ring he was wearing)But hey, you don't have to care about what others think about it! Also, the handwriting on my prescription looked awesome!

In my opinion the pocket watch is old fashioned, simply because a wrist watch is nearly always a better solution (and mind you, a mechanic watch might be considered by some to be better than a digital one simply because it is mechanic).

This does not apply to fountain pens which can have an advantage (for some) over more contemporary writing utensils.

You said: "low end", that however seems to be a no-no. Always go for the "high end" when you try to make an impression. It might be a good idea to exchange your low end fountain pen for a high end ballpoint pen (would be in the same price range).

I had a whole phase of looking at and buying the perfect pen. I think it was almost an obsession - trying to be perfect. I was trying to create the perfect image.

However, after much buying and trying I realised that someone might ask to borrow a pen at a trade show - and I couldn't refuse ... but then I might be handing over something of value, with ink to a person who would use it as a scrubbing brush - and might not hand it back! (How do you think I started my collection!)

So .. I now use a cheap plain ball point pen - with a click top - because I use the click as an anchor.

Although, I do still have a few variations of pen in my case - to bring out for mirroring.

It depends on what people pay attention to. I would pay attention to pens because they are something I am interested in,but it doesn't mean it is something that everyone would be particularly paying attention to

So glad to hear that someone is using a fountain pen. It strikes me a person who takes writing very seriously which means good handwriting, patient and a thinker. Standard Bic type pens do not due justice to lovely handwriting.